Bangladeshi students are being brutally treated by their own country’s government after protests were clamped down on. Media’s being banned and the cellphone services are shut down so the news doesn’t reach out but the internet just showed its power in a an amazing way.
Over the course of the last week, there has been a lot of bad news coming out of Bangladesh.
PLEASE LET THE WORLD KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON IN BANGLADESH 🇧🇩#BBC #CNN #AlJazeera #WeWantJustice #BBC #CNN #SkyNews #CCBM #AlJazeera #Telegraph #TheSun #DailyMail #TheGuardian #NewYorkTimes #NasDailyGlobal #ProjectNightFall #AlArabia #EuroNews #NBC #RoadSafetyBangladesh pic.twitter.com/aheMhMJNYA
— I'm Music (@songslane) August 6, 2018
But surprisingly their own media was very quiet about the issue. The news broke out because of the internet and it was because of the internet, that action was taken regarding it.
The entire incident was sparked because of the deaths of two children after a bus rammed into a bus stop. Students across the entire country banded together to demand better road safety conditions. They protested and immobilized parts of the capital, Dhaka to make sure traffic laws are obeyed and implemented. Because the students were tired of the deaths and injuries which are a regular feature because of poor traffic laws.
Students collecting together and then setting up checkpoints on roads to check licenses and registration forms apparently embarrassed the government and its officials.
The Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan was dismissive of the protests stating that 30 people died in India in the past because of bad traffic laws but Indians were not making as much of a fuss as Bangladeshis. Khan also happens to be the head of a transportation lobby and thus stricter traffic laws are not something he might be in favor of.
Protests were mainly non-violent until things escalated quite a bit on Saturday and a lot of violence ensued At first, it was only school students protesting but after a pro-government student union joined the police to help disperse protesters, other university students join in on the protests against the government and police.
And that’s when things turned dark.
Student protestors were attacked by the pro-government student union members as well as the police. Tear gas was used and batons were charged. Basically, a lot of students were injured because of the assaults and university campuses turned into war zones.
Bangladeshi university, East West University(EWU) has been attacked by police and government force.#WeWantJustice pic.twitter.com/yjxwQqe0os
— Asif Akbar (@asif1971bd) August 6, 2018
This is a peaceful protest staged by students in Bangladesh demanding for a safer road yet policemen came upon orders of its govt to stop the protest by means of violence.
Deaths were recorded, some were injured, media personnel were beaten. Please help! #WeWantJustice pic.twitter.com/1WQhFwaXEL
— fifigandanghari 💞 (@AlfonsoLabrague) August 5, 2018
In Bangladesh,students were protesting against road accident.But police were attacking on them.Even government againt us.We need help from international media.#RoadSafetyMovement #WeWantJustice pic.twitter.com/fJPQHmevgj
— Ashikul Islam Bhuiyan (@IslamAshiqur) August 5, 2018
The media did not give the event much coverage which lead to students using the internet to spread the word. And word spread like wildfire. People from around the world started to tweet under the hashtag #WeWantJustice and international media outlets started to pick the stories up.
One of the most interesting things was how people from the K-POP fandom rallied together on social media to get the word out.
We are a fan site that supports A Kpop Idol grp but we are also a human being that cannot stand 2 see acts of cruelty being lashed out 2 Children. So we have broken free of our usual tweets and decided to tweet about the student protest in Bangladesh. Pardon us pls#WeWantJustice pic.twitter.com/pvIE21nanZ
— SeungriBBVVIPGlobal (@GlobalVvip) August 6, 2018
NOT KPOP RELATED, but PLEASE take time to read & spread out the word by retweeting. this is such a heart-wrenching moment that is currently happening until now. let's stand up for the youth that is being oppressed by their own govt. #WeWantJustice pic.twitter.com/y3ysmYhZip
— ً (@doyoungsfilm) August 6, 2018
However, in all the hubbub, some rumors started spreading which included rumors that some students protestors had been murdered, raped and detained by government workers.
Bangladeshi students were being abused for speaking out & demanding road safety.
5 were dead.
4 underaged girls were raped.
9 were injured.
2 lost their eyes.
Many were missing.Please RT for support and awareness, THEY DESPERATELY NEED MORE MEDIA COVERAGE. #WeWantJustice
— chelle 💜 (@3shells1991) August 4, 2018
According to the New York Times, when student protesters stormed the government offices, they found no evidence of any such activities which lead them to publicly acknowledge and take back the accusations they had made. Over the weekend, the mobile internet speeds across Bangladesh was very low which lead to people thinking it was a deliberate attempt by the government to curb free speech. However, the telecommunications minister promised it was because of technical difficulties and not deliberate. But he did comment on how it might have saved everyone from escalating violence because of false news spreading further.
Government vs. Student more like Powerful ppl vs. Powerless ppl this ain't right#WeWantJustice pic.twitter.com/sSJTywcZWO
— 踦 (@jellybeom_) August 6, 2018
this is really happening and we cannot ignore it.
the Bangladeshi gov. is filtering out tweets and they have shut up down the 3G and 4G services.#WeWantJustice pic.twitter.com/g7DGhOBuSn— huh (@itsaxh) August 5, 2018
After mainly ignoring the matter, the Home Minister for Bangladesh, Asaduzzaman Khan stated that he applauded the polices’ patience but warned student protestors that serious action would be taken if they ‘crossed the limit’.
The protests are still going on and the students have vowed to make sure they keep them up till justice is served. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments.
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Cover Image Source: @doyoungsfilm/@alfonsolabrague via twitter.com